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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Wonder what is the reason for nursery doing this..

23 replies

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 10:42

Twice now nursery have had to call me at home to come to collect DS2. today was a record as he had been in for half an hour. They obviously know I am at home as they phoned the house first and also as DS1 is with me. Anyway they said DS2 has been sick and to collect him. He is sitting watching telly now fit as a fiddle. Apparently they gave him cereal for snack and he retched. No wonder he's just has his breakfast before going, so isn't obviously hungry for more. I just wondered if they know a parent is at home they are more likely to call parent to collect on a whim?

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rubyslippers · 17/04/2009 10:45

am not sure but i wouldn't be too happy if this is becoming a pattern

i know nurseries ahve to be careful with vomiting ...

Original poster

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 10:50

Thanks. He wasn't even sick just said he was going to be. Luckily I can pick him up today but usually working and as you say don't want it to become a pattern.

OP posts:

mummyhill · 17/04/2009 10:51

It appears to me from personal experience that if they know you are home they are more likely to ask you to collect your child.

rubyslippers · 17/04/2009 10:52

i would have refused to pick him up if he hadn't been sick

i would ask if you can take him back TBH

Original poster

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 10:55

He's only in for the morning so prob not bother. However he does goes to another nursery this afternoon so they won't know he's been "sick". TBH DS2 now knows he can say he feels sick and they will phone me. But how do I know when he's `crying wolf'?

OP posts:

rubyslippers · 17/04/2009 11:11

hmmm - i would happily pick DS up for D & V and a temp which won't go down even with calpol

Original poster

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 11:15

Think so too. Though nursery did say they thought DS2 had a temperture too but they can't administer calpol without my permission.

OP posts:

purepurple · 17/04/2009 15:14

Doesn't happen in the nursery where I work, but did you know some nurseries have more children than places and they have to send some home to stay within the ratio?
Or, they might have thought he was ill.

hf128219 · 17/04/2009 15:30

My dd is only sent home with D or V or a high temperature.

Original poster

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 16:49

Purepurple I didn't know that. Do you mean they "overbook"?

OP posts:

Littlefish · 17/04/2009 16:58

I've never heard of that purepurple. To be honest, I'm not sure I believe it either. Ofsted would be able to check the number of children on the register against the number of staff on duty and know immediately that they were over ratio.

I've worked in a couple of nurseries as a teacher and what you've suggested simply wouldn't happen.

Do you have personal experience of this?

In the nurseries I worked in, if a member of staff is off sick, which means that the nursery would be over ratio, they call in an agency member of staff. On a particularly bad day, the nursery had to phone some of the parents and explain that so many staff were off with D&V and they couldn't get agency cover, so the parents would not be able to use the nursery that day.

babbi · 17/04/2009 17:43

Well Littlefish , I am with Purple on this .
As to Ofsted looking at thre register to see what kids are on the books - makes me laugh out loud !! I know of 2 nurseries that have 2 sets of books , one to be handed when inspected and the other for the real figures . Also overbooking very common and as for agency staff ?? Nope just went short of staff - parents drop off and go they don`t have time to stay around and count kids in and out and then the relevant ratio of staff , very easy to be understaffed and get away with it !!

mummyhill · 17/04/2009 19:59

I have had calls half way to nursery telling that as my child is only using his free hours and there is a problem at nursery with staffing levels/heating/water/snow they are only taking paying children

purepurple · 17/04/2009 21:03

yes, I have personal experience of this, and as for using agency staff, far too expensive
the big chains that do this can ring round and get extra staff when OFSTED lands on their doorstep

Original poster

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 21:11

This is eyeopening stuff. It is still holidays here so maybe nursery were hoping it would be a quiet time. Can't believe they deliver a service knowingly understaffed or with too many chidren booked in at a time

OP posts:

purepurple · 17/04/2009 21:33

I have worked in a room that holds 24 over 3's. One day we had 27 booked in, the manager hoped that they wouldn't all turn up. They did.
we didn't send any home. we were understaffed all day.
It goes on all the time.

blueshoes · 17/04/2009 23:02

I would not agree to pick up my dc from nursery for one-off retching, short of vomiting and being poorly. Nor has the nursery ever asked me to. I would query them thoroughly if they tried this on me.

Find out what the nursery's written sickness policy is and make sure they stick to it. Otherwise, they need to refund you.

No reason why you should have one set of rules applying to you because you are at home and another set for working/paying parents.

I don't know about overbooking but my dcs' nursery have permanent 'bank' staff (floating staff not attached to any particular room) who cover staff absences due to holiday, illness or to help out during busy mealtimes. They are familiar faces at the nursery. The nursery manager also steps in if extra hands are needed.

Original poster

M1SSUNDERSTOOD · 17/04/2009 23:09

I know the policy is if they have an episode of d or v within 24 hours the child can't come and will be excluded for another 24 hours. Today I think they were out of order and will have a word with them on Monday.

OP posts:

hellywobs · 24/04/2009 13:06

Nurseries (and parents) have to take a common sense view. If a child seems as fit as a fiddle and is sick immediately after eating it's clearly not a bug (might have choked or have reflux) and the nursery should keep the child (when my son was about one he would have been sent home every day as for about 5 months it was like Russian Roulette feeding him, would he keep the food down or wouldn't he, then he was ok again). If the child is miserable and/or lethargic or has been sick way after eating, the nursery will have to assume it's a bug.

cookielove · 03/05/2009 17:57

At my nursery, a child is sent home for D or V, a high temp, suspected contagious illness e.g chicken pox, conjunctivitus and other such things. It is clear when a child retches and vomits at food time that it is different to being sick due to bug, a child is not sent home for retching, or for bringing up sick after retching.

We do however look up rashes and call parents to check whether they noticed it in the morning e.t.c

However did u inform the nursery that he had just eaten breakfast and if so how much?

nickschick · 03/05/2009 18:09

As a nursery nurse I have never experienced 'over the ratio' nurseries thats not to say it doesnt happen just I havent seen it- the nursery I worked at would when I left ask me at quite short notice if I could go in - often I would the money was too good to turn away sometimes they would ask me to go in a few days in advance if they knew staff had holidays booked or something (not so well paid)....I think the problem is a lot of nursery staff can be quite young and whilst they are very qualified they dont have the experience that comes with years of training and being a mum - I would be inclined to adopt a wait and see approach if it were a child in my care or maybe fone mum up and see what she thinks - I think that you need to say when you go back to nursery that ds wasnt sick and you think he might be mixing up feeling full and feeling sick so unless he is actually sick with a constant high temperature then play it by ear really.

MissPiggyHasTheFlu · 03/05/2009 18:22

I have to agree with purepurple - our nursery would book in extra children - hoping that 1 or 2 would just not show up.

If all did turn up then there were 2 things that would happen

we were made to send children up on visits to the next room even if they weren't due any visits for a while and sometimes this would be for a full day.
join rooms uptogether ie babies and toddler rooms.

and sometimes they would plan it so that we would join the baby and toddler room together so that we only needed 3 staff instead of 4 and if we were over numbers again children were sent on visits.

ABetaDad · 03/05/2009 18:37

mummyhill - I agree with you. We work from home and one nursery our DSs were at always called us for really 'nothing at all' reasons and I am sure it was because were near and at home.

One mother I knew worked 70 miles away and they never called her no matter how sick the child. If they can dump a few kids back on parents when they are short staffed they do not have to get an agency worker or pay overtime and so can save the cost.

We moved to a much better nursery and it stopped happening.

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